Ruins of the Rabarans
by SirNi
Summary: Fam and Ihrie rejoin their friends ... and a new adventure unfolds. I need to give my chapters more length..
1. Unsettled

RUINS OF THE RABARANS  
TAPE ONE: Ruins of the Rabarans  
  
Chapter One: Unsettled  
  
Long ago, at the birth of magic and time,  
A kingdom of nature ruled, with peace sublime.  
Alas, it was not to last, as a conflict occurred.  
Skies, ocean, earth; it engulfed the whole world.  
The world revived, ancient wonders as lures,  
Those who gave in were -Ruin Explorers-.  
  
Something seemed lacking since Rugudorull's defeat - a full year ago already - pondered Ihrie idly in the washtub. It wasn't Fam, wasn't herself ... heck, it wasn't even Galuff, if one felt like being ornery. It wasn't any specific person, just the mood. At least Rasha made things interesting. Too interesting, usually, but interesting.  
A sleeping squeak from Fam made Ihrie smile wistfully. She slowly dressed and made her way to Fam; she had a surprise in mind, today.  
"Fam?"  
Squeak squeak.  
"Oh Fa-am..."  
Squeak /squeak/ eep squeee...  
"Fam!" Not too loudly, Ihrie hoped.  
The Wiggan chipmunk-elf woke up, as though she had never been asleep. It wasn't Wiggan-instinctive, Ihrie knew; it was just one of Fam's unique traits.  
"Up for something new?"  
Fam's naivety didn't always show - she did have some sense behind that giggling persona. "New?"  
"Lyle?"  
Almost immediately, a flush came to Fam's features. It stayed in full force. "I'd love to!" said Fam, elvish ears jumping a full inch in excitement. Then, as her ears went down slowly, she said more quietly: "Do you think he'll mind?"  
Ihrie shook her head; even though the Sword of Sargus had brought out Lyle's kingly side, she knew he wouldn't mind.  
...would he? 


	2. The Repaired Castle

Chapter Two: The Repaired Castle  
  
The kingdom of Reibart, only half a day's ship ride away, was quite different than when she and Fam had left it. When they had left by Lyle's request, the castle was a shambles, annihilated as a result of the mad mage-priest Rugudorull.  
Lyle had fixed it up - to say the least.  
Spires and silk; even the drawbridge had been cleaned up, it seemed. The stones of memory were around, but more bunched, a stain from the days of Rugudorull but less conspicuous - a graveyard of memories, reflected Ihrie with a smile, having the usual urge to meet her mentor again.  
Startled of her thoughts by a soft nudge accompanied by a grin from Fam, she whistled appreciatively at the castle. "He really did go all out," she smiled. "I wonder what it's like inside..."  
A squeak said that her friend was thinking the same.  
  
The inside was not particularly different - it was the kind of toned-down elegance Lyle had always shown. Ihrie was tempted, for the first time in her memory, to actually call a castle handsome. It seemed like the castle had become Lyle's counterpart.  
His throne room was no different - there were guards, but upon recognizing the two explorers, Lyle had dismissed them. Scarcely different than before, one thing did stand out - a twinkling light was his eyes, eerily close to the Spirits themselves. Fam squeaked, noticing and blushing just as quickly.  
Lyle picked it up, giving merely a soft chuckle.  
"So... how is it?" he asked in his Reybartan accent.  
"The castle, or ourselves?"  
Another laugh.  
"You come first, you know."  
Fam's blush increased, equal with her smile.  
"I've missed you."  
"Me too," came Fam's sheepish reply.  
  
The two had a bit to catch up, Ihrie knew, friends or more - she headed to a nearby window, to lean and ponder. And get the usual yawn out... upon leaning, her eyes grew wide, the yawn coming out in a quick burst. It would be a while before her energy deterioted that much again.  
"It's them. What're they doing here?"  
Stepping into the castle courtyard were Rasha and Miguel.  
And behind them, for whatever reason, Galuff and Gil.  
  
Ihrie's head promptly dropped on the window frame, moaning softly. It took Fam a full minute to wander over, so intent was she talking with Lyle.  
"You okay?"  
Weakly, her friend tilted a finger down to the courtyard, moans still ensuing. Lyle walked over, chuckling lightly in the Famishly naive way he could. "It's them?"  
"How'd you guess?" asked Ihrie, picking herself up gradually.  
"It's not like you to act defeatist. There's only a few people I know that get you to do that," with a motion to the new arrivals.  
"Isn't it the truth," muttered Ihrie irritably. 


	3. Reunions

Chapter Three: Reunions  
  
Lyle's gentle smile did alleviate some of Ihrie's crankiness.  
Some.  
This time, it only took her ten minutes to get to the courtyard.  
Rasha, in all her white-caped self-considered 'glory', gave a quick regal curtsey; the effect only lasted for a second, though, for she whirled and caught Miguel staring at a less-than-proper spot.  
"You looked just - " he began, cutting off by way of a particularly scathing glance.  
Don't mess with Rasha when Lyle's around, chuckled Ihrie.  
"So," asked Lyle softly, to break up the tension, "what brings you here?"  
"You," purred Rasha, cutting off by an elbow from Miguel.  
Ihrie blinked, eyes rolling. "I didn't expect to learn anything from them ...Galuff?"  
"Miss Ihrie," weaselled the con artist, "there's more treasure to be found."  
"We've -already- been hunting."  
Galuff nodded, hands fidgeting but with his characteristic focus. "That's why I'm here."  
"Come again?"  
"One of your treasures let off a yellow glow last night, covering nearly a mile's radius."  
"You could tell that?"  
"We checked." Just Gil, apparently.  
"And you learned...?"  
"You didn't smell like yourselves."  
"You learned this, or Gil did?"  
The dog snickered. "Gil did," muttered the Tarallian.  
"Perhaps he can tell us instead," said Ihrie, half teasing and half serious. The dog, oddly enough, did show a shaded intelligence. Enough to play off, at any rate.  
Galuff shook his head vehemently. "Only I know which treasure it is..."  
"Anything to get some," laughed Miguel.  
"Not that at all." His expression revealed otherwise; they knew the man better than that anyway. "Merely curiosity, a thirst for knowledge."  
"That coming from you..." Ihrie just shook her head. "It's hard to swallow."  
"He might mean it this time," said Lyle quietly.  
"You can't be serious - "  
"You're doubting -Lyle-?" asked Rasha, eyebrows raising in a thinly-veiled threat.  
"Just can't win, can I?" muttered Ihrie, dropping her head in a hand and walking off to her miniature - very miniature - treasure horde.  
The dog snickered again, louder this time. 


	4. The Changeling Light

Chapter Four: The Changeling Light  
  
The golden orb sat in a silver base, clutched in a blue serpent's claw. Being a full foot in height, it nevertheless seemed to loom over those gathered, as though it were sentient, and more powerful than even Rugudorull.  
"This is it," said Galuff, eyes twinkling in the soft glow.  
"Sure it is . . but why the interest? A glow doesn't seem to be terribly - "  
"Don't underestimate a Rabaran glow," interrupted Rasha, eyes glowing but with a much different light than Galuff's. "Even Rugudorull would have a hard time against these creatures - the general consensus is that the Rabaran -began- the War of the Magi, using agents from within the court itself."  
An eerie silence spilled over the room until Miguel chuckled to break it. "She's been studying again."  
Lyle nodded, murmuring something quietly.  
The Wiggan caught it, ears perking up with curiosity.  
"I've heard of the Rabarans," he said slowly, shaking his head as if to forget. "They're a legend to spook children from running through too many corridors. They still do, though," he smiled.  
"The Rabarans have no magic of their own, so says the legend - rather, they steal it from everyone else. Rugudorull's Muppets were merely an offshoot of the Rabaran's originals - they remove their slaves' brains, rendering them utterly mindless, and replace them with a glowing orb like this here."  
"Rugudorull never got that far," said Ihrie quietly, "but someone certainly did. Why else would the light be on?"  
No one had an answer to that. 


	5. Mealtime Discussions

Chapter Five: Mealtime Discussions  
  
"What IS this?" snapped Rasha irritably. The Wiggan sat far from her, giggling quietly to herself, while the magician attempted to stomach the other's creation.  
"It's soup," muttered Ihrie over a spoonful of her own. "Not terribly bad soup, either." Miguel slurped agreement.  
"It looks ready to -glow- any second!" complained Rasha, pushing it away, her own face reflecting a sickly green.  
Ihrie just shook her head, stifling a chuckle, "I guess I get the rest."  
"I do," frowned Miguel.  
"Just split it," said Lyle quietly, but with the tone of a king's command. It was the first time any of them had heard a command from him; the Sargus change had definitely impacted him when it came down to it.  
But over a meal?  
Ihrie shrugged; she would have suggested a fight for it, and contrary to the expression on Rasha's face, Lyle didn't seem too impatient for infighting.  
"The Rabarans get you down?" she asked gently.  
Lyle shook his head, sitting down; being a king, he must have already eaten. Or so Ihrie assumed. "It's not that. It's just that..." he paused, eyes going boyishly wide and reverting just as quickly back to Sargus-induced kingliness. "... just that Rugudorull isn't the greatest enemy after all."  
"Maybe not, but we can handle 'im. The great Miguel bested a roomful of Muppets alone!" This coming from a goateed warrior in the middle of a meal.  
"That was -alone-?" asked Galuff, walking in with a plate of what appeared to be ... dog food? It didn't seem to be for Gill, either, strangely enough.  
Muttering something low and unpleasant, the warrior flicked a dark gaze at Galuff, eerily close to a Rasha frown.  
"She rubbing off on you?" asked Ihrie pleasantly.  
The Rasha glare flicked over to Ihrie, Rasha herself pausing from her meal to raise her eyebrows. "I must be."  
Just as quickly as the frown ensued, it vanished - Miguel went back to his meal, muttering something -else- equally unpleasant.  
Rasha shoved her meal away, a fleeting look of disgust glancing at it. "What's wrong, Miguel? You're usually -much- more placid than that." Placid? Definitely not a word Ihrie had in reserve...  
"Nothing," came the in-munch reply.  
"Something's the matter," the mage purred. "You know you can tell me." That look implied that she needed to know, whether he would or...  
"-Nothing-."  
Her glance moved over to the soup for a second - be easier to stomach than Miguel today - but went back, face the same shade of green as before. "Nothing doesn't explain your..."  
"-Nothing-." Glaring at Rasha, Miguel stared at her.  
Fam let loose a nervous squeak, clutching at Ihrie. "He's..."  
"He's always like this." Fam had seen him like this before. Why would this be any differ -  
"He's not Miguel," said Lyle quietly. 


	6. An Unpleasant Invention

Chapter Six: An Unpleasant Invention  
  
Miguel's visage was slowly reverting away from the being staring at Rasha. Bloodless, fleshless, the skin was nevertheless opening up, fading into a gray mist that slowly coalesced into small silver bubbles, floating beyond the being and into the ceiling.  
"Spirits of the Air," said Fam quietly, watching the bubbles.  
"Can you do anything about them?" asked Rasha, quivering but staring the creature down. "You were - "  
"I tried already," replied the Wiggan sheepishly. "They won't listen to me - or even realise I'm here."  
"...they -are- Spirits, though..."  
Fam nodded, eyes wide in near-disbelief.  
The last silver bubbles floated away, a dark golden thing of flesh and not metal sitting in its place. A blob, the thing was shaped in the general outline of Miguel, but for one blatant difference.  
A golden orb sat on its head, not unlike the one in Ihrie's room, a sunken-in silver eyeball taking up what was once its face.  
Rasha just ...stared... now, not moving but for a small quiver.  
Even Gill let out a small yip.  
"Was that Miguel, or a ... thing?" Ihrie asked, surprised her voice could bring out the question.  
"The completion of the one called Miguel de Cerranlas is near its end," said a monotone, toneless voice from within the gold figure. "I have been activated by a..." the golem moved to Rasha and left itself there. "...friend and am awaiting further instructions."  
For a full minute nothing happened, the sounds of breathing itself hardly noticeable. Abruptly, the golem's eye swiveling, watching all in the room. "Awaiting instructions," said the nonvoice, a trace of impatience in its tone.  
From the lack of responses, it realised something, the eye turning to Rasha in a literal blink and nodding. "Following secondary orders immediately."  
"Secondary orders?" Rasha and Ihrie were muttering spells even before they noticed the golem lumbering down the corridor.  
When they did, all chaos broke loose.  
"It's the orb!"  
"It's going after the orb!"  
"We're all gonna die!"  
"You say that again, Galuff, -you- will."  
One voice, a sharpened boyish voice, broke through all the noise, even the squealing maids from the corridor. "I'm going, with or without any of you."  
Even Gill went along in the end, if only to snicker the entire way. 


	7. Orbal Warfare

Chapter Seven: Orbal Warfare  
  
"From fizzle to fire... "  
"Not yet, Fam. Not -quite- yet." The golden golem was a full corridor away; so far, it had diverted into about three or four doors already, one even including a woman's shrill scream. Lyle had winced, as though it were his own . . in a sense, perhaps.  
"But that's your quarters..."  
"Right. We want to see what it does."  
Ihrie was certainly ready to use her flashline of ice - but the consequences were enough to tide her over. Being a mouse wasn't a particularly pleasant occurence, even with Rasha there to freak out.  
Slowly Lyle crept forward, and the troupe followed - Ihrie had to nearly strangle Gill to keep him quiet - until they were immediately before Ihrie's room.  
Inside, the golem had removed its head - indeed, it was the same orb Ihrie had once owned - and sat before it, waiting for instructions of whatever sort.  
This, of course, was the perfect -  
"...from sizzles of fate..."  
Fam was still trying to remember the incantation, tapping her forehead as though it would help.  
"Wait until we get IN!" snapped Rasha.  
The golem heard, and its removed head turned, a blink sending a flashline of lightning at them - the most they could do, clustered in the door, was to crash into each other.  
Lyle's eyes bulged, trying to hold the Sword steady, while a flashline of ice flew at the golem and Ihrie reverted into a small, speaking mouse. "There goes Rasha," it muttered, watching the mage collapse into a near-death faint.  
The Reybart prince-king tossed a gray pill into Ihrie's mouth with practiced aim, but even that didn't help. Another flashline, this one of ground-searing flame, slid along after them.  
Lyle blocked this one with the Sword, but shook his head. The only other time it had blocked anything, it occured to Ihrie, was with the enhancement of the Spirits. The Spirits..  
Any implication left her mind as she darted a panicked gaze back at Fam in the corridor rear. The golem's flashline would hit her straight on.  
"Fam!" The Wiggan looked up, and smiled a smile only Fam could bring.  
"...bid the two powers, and make the other ones late!"  
It brought just the right intensity, with her high-pitched squeak. Ihrie still hadn't figured out how Wiggans - at least brighter ones - could fit so well with their spells.  
They did, though; that was the important thing.  
As the horizontal flame flashed out toward the golem, Ihrie jumped into Lyle, knocking him out of the way. She made it a point to get beyond its path; she knew the power of the Wiggan fizzle.  
Intense it was. Yellow, red, blue - it slid through the full color spectrum, even pulling a purple on its way past. Fam's grin was sheepish but big, both for good reason. It annihilated over half of Ihrie's possessions - later, everyone in the palace swore they heard her groan that day - and even went through the wall.  
Lyle's own groan was never heard, for a fearful silence slid over the group, waiting for the smoke to clear. It took a good five minutes, in which nearly no one moved, even Gill, the end of which involved Rasha walking up tentatively.  
The head-orb was where it had been, but the golem was vanished, as though never there.  
Rasha knew better than that. She grabbed the head - now cooled of the fizzle - and shook it in a blind fury.  
"Where's Miguel?" she screamed. 


	8. Mysteries of the Orb

Chapter Eight: Mysteries of the Orb  
  
"The one called Miguel is no longer with us," said that nonvoice from the orb. Fam's eyes went wide, and Ihrie walked back to hug her.  
"He's not gone," she said quietly, holding a finger to hush Fam's inevitable question.  
Instead, Rasha asked it.  
"Where IS he?"  
The orb stayed silent.  
Lyle coughed gently, walking up with a smile bordering on naivety. "Ask it politely," he said. "And change the question."  
"Change it?"  
"Think for a moment."  
She did, taking most of the time to calm, and nodded.  
"He is no longer with us . . "  
"Correct."  
" . . so who is he with?"  
"He is now with Aeril."  
"Who is Aeril?"  
The nonvoice paused. "You should know."  
"I do not."  
The nonvoice quieted. "Then I must le - "  
"No!" The nonvoice made a quiet vexed noise. "No," said Rasha more gently. "Where is Aeril?"  
"He is immediately south of Reybart castle."  
"Why?"  
The nonvoice hissed. "You are not in your right mind, Rashana. Only Aeril knows."  
"Rashana?" This time, it was Galuff, with more than a little suspicion.  
Rasha hissed, now. "Only Aeril knows," she complained, imitating the nonvoice.  
"Meet Aeril if you want to find out. You're not learning anything else from ME!"  
The nonvoice grew quieter and quieter, muttering Rabaran expletives.  
Once it was fully gone, Rasha whirled on Galuff in a flutter of white cape. "What's this about a Rashana?" rivaling a cobra's venom.  
"Just a person I've heard - "  
"You've heard -nothing- of Rashana." Galuff's eyes went wide, he gulped, and skittered away.  
"Now," said Rasha as smoothly as her cape's turn, "Let's find Aeril." 


End file.
